Bottom line, up front- first hunted for water, then hunted for birds. There has not been rain in the area I was in for 3 weeks and birds were only found near water sources. You may just find your plans for the perfect spot you found in the WIA guide or from googlemaps satellite ruined by lack of water so adapt and move.
Summary
Hunted SAT through TUE south of Aberdeen.
Covered lots of spots in a square from Cresbard/Conde/Doland/Orient.
2 to 4 hunters, 1 dog Sun-Tue
Sat- 2 guys, no dog. Hunted ditches with cover next to crops between Mellete to Conde on the south side. Lots of birds but too much wind and it took a while to find spots with water. Birds didn't move until right before sundown. Only 4 birds taken late. They really got moving in the wind or ran and we missed a lot of shots as we were rusty. Good to see this area make a comeback after heavy flooding wiped this area out 3 years ago. Watched a group of 17 hit a road-side slough and got 2 at about 2PM. They moved up to the adjacent tree line and shelter belt and took 85 birds so there are more there than you could ever imagine if you are just not hitting the right spot at the right time.
Sun- 4 guys, 1 dog. Windy again so we watched the Vikes win while we swapped from Mod to Full chokes in the guns. Got out at 3:30 and saw birds solid in ditches and sloughs next to water from Chelsea to Cresbard and south all the way to Athol. Filled out by 5:30, 12 birds. Hit everything we shot at with the Full chokes in by the end of the day. Forgot to be patient and not rush the first shot. Early in the day I missed 3 times at close range on the same bird and actually stopped and stared at my gun to figure out what was going on for a couple seconds. It crossed my mind that perhaps we missed some shot in that batch of reloads until I realized what was different.
Mon- Calm day. Hunted late again with different guys and dog. Birds all over: Turton, Athol, Chelsea, Doland areas. 9 birds taken near Athol- hunted sloughs near corn coming out and did tremendous. 9 birds in a couple hours.
Tue- Mostly packing up. Frankfort had a pheasant apocalypse earlier this summer- hailed 3 times there, once hard enough to kill livestock in about a 3 mile wide path. Don't go there, try north of that area. 2 guys with a dog walked 4 hours each day Sat-Mon on ideal ground and saw 10, got 3. Sent them to the NW quadrant we were hunting and they saw hundreds of birds all day from noon to close. Got their limit. They are purist about walking grass behind dogs but even they had to admin it was a nice break to actually see birds by walking the ditches.
My recommendation is to have your fun walking around the fields with your dog from noon-4PM but don't tire yourself out or stay in one area. Do some ditch and road hunting from 4 to sundown. Tell yourself it's just scouting and then don't pass up the birds who have lost the will to live and are standing bravely in the ditches waiting for the sweet release of your #5 shot express to the next world.
